Letters on Means of Converting Unbelievers to the Christian Faith

In “Letters on the Means of Converting Unbelievers to the Christian Faith,” St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslov) sets out his views on the methods and principles of converting pagans to the Christian faith. The saint strongly opposes forced conversion and calls for a patient and merciful attitude towards non-believers. He speaks of the need to study the culture and mentality of the people being converted in order to effectively convey the Christian truth to them. St. Gregory insists that missionaries must have not only a deep knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and theology, but also an impeccable life in order to attract people to the faith by their example. Contents 1. Virgil, Bishop of Arelate and Theodore, Bishop of Meccalia 2. Peter, Bishop of the Island of Corsica 3. Fantine the Solicitor 4. Mellitus Abbot 5. Landowners of Sardinia 1. Virgil, Bishop of Arelates and Theodore, Bishop of Meccalia Many of the local Jews, traveling on trade business to the Messalia region, told me that many Jews there were baptized forcibly, without proper edification. I do not deny that you do this out of love for the Lord; but I am afraid that this act, if those who are baptized do not understand the Holy Scriptures, will either deprive you of your reward, or that any harm will result from it to the souls that you want to save. One who is baptized under compulsion, and not as a result of conviction, can easily return to his former superstition; and in this case he will suffer a worse death than he experienced before the rebirth. You, dear brethren, must, through preaching, invite non-believers to baptism, so that, having been convinced by the evidence of the teacher, they themselves will desire to change their way of life. When you act like this; then your goal will be correct, and the one who is baptized will not return to his former defilement. Therefore, first give edification to those being baptized, which would destroy the thorns of error in them, and enlighten the darkness of their thoughts, so that you may earn a reward for such edification, and make them, with the help of God, desire rebirth into a new life. (Book 1. Scripture 47.). 2. Peter, Bishop of Corsica Having received your letter, dear brother, I thanked Almighty God; for you informed me of the numbering of many souls into the Church. Try your best, beloved, to bring the work you have started to an end; and those who, having been faithful, through negligence or need, turned to idolatry, hasten to return to faith, assigning them some time for repentance, so that they would mourn their guilt, and through this, become more established on the path to which, with the help of God, they will return; and add those who have not yet been baptized to the number of confessors of the almighty Lord, convincing them, begging them, frightening them with the future judgment and proving that you should not honor stones and wood, so that on the day of impartial judgment you will be worthy of being counted among the saints. If you take care of the revitalization of the soul in uniting them with the Church; then you will do the most useful and important thing, for you will increase the silver of your Master, who gave you the talent for preaching. At the same time, I am sending you 25 gold coins to buy new clothes for those who are baptized (Book 8. Letter 1). Madam Abbess of the Monastery of St. Stefana, in the region of Agrigentina, informed me that many Jews, under the inspiration of Divine grace, want to turn to the Christian faith, and that I need to send someone there in order to help fulfill their desires. Therefore, I order you to go there without excuses, and with your persuasion to help fulfill their desires. If you find out that they want to be baptized soon, without waiting for Easter; then, so as not to cool their zeal by delay, tell the local bishop to, having assigned them a forty-day fast, baptize them with the help of God, either on Sunday, or on some holiday that has happened, especially since the coming time of war does not allow delaying the fulfillment of their desire. And if any of them is so poor that he cannot buy himself clothes; then buy and arrange for them the clothing needed for baptism; the money you spend on this will be paid to you. But if they want to wait for Easter; then again tell the bishop to announce them and visit them more often, and with his instigations inflame their zeal, so that before the holiday they prepare themselves more and more ardently desire its approach. In addition, try to find out whether the above-mentioned monastery has the means to support it, and whether it suffers from need. Immediately inform me in detail about what you truly learn about the entire monastery, or what will be done with those who wish to be baptized (Book 8. Letter 23). Not hearing anything about how you travel, leaving me, I am very worried; but when Almighty God brings you to my most venerable brother, Bishop Augustine, tell him what I spoke to you about the English, namely, that it is not necessary to destroy the idolatrous churches of this people, but only to destroy the idols. These churches should be sprinkled with blessed water, thrones should be placed in them and relics should be placed; because, if they are well organized, then they need to be converted from a place of serving demons to places of serving the true God, so that, thus, without destroying them, this people will be put off by error, and flock more diligently to the places to which they are accustomed to worship the true God. Further, it is known that these people slaughter many bulls as sacrifices to demons; and this custom needs to be changed - let them, on the days when either the consecration of the church is celebrated, or the memory of the martyr, whose relics are placed in the church, make themselves tents from tree branches near churches built from churches, and prepare pious feasts for themselves here, slaughtering animals not for the devil, but for the glory of God, as food for themselves, and when they are satisfied, thank the giver of all goods, so that, giving him some sensual pleasure, the more convenient it is to bring it closer to spiritual joys, for it is impossible to suddenly deny rude souls everything; whoever wants to ascend to a height ascends gradually and quietly, and does not skip over. So the Lord himself ordered the Israelites to offer themselves some of those sacrifices that they usually offered to the demon in Egypt (Lev. 17). Likewise, let the English leave some sacrifices and keep others; and since they will slaughter ordinary animals not in honor of idols, but in the glory of God, there will be no sacrifice to demons here. You must announce all this to my brother who was mentioned above, so that he can consider how he should act. (Book 11. Scripture 76.). My brother, Bishop Felix, and my son, the servant of God Kyriakos, informed me that almost all of you peasants living in your domains worship idols. This news saddened me greatly. The guilt of subordinates has a harmful influence on the lives of their superiors, so that if the misdeeds of subordinates are not corrected, then the condemnation falls on the superiors. Therefore, my venerable children, I advise you to take every possible care of your souls and think about what answer you should give to God for your subordinates. He entrusted them to you so that they would help you acquire earthly benefits, and you would take care of their souls. If your subordinates do their duty to you; then why don’t you pay them what they deserve? You must edify them and keep them from idolatry, so that, by making them believers, you may appease the almighty Lord; for you see that the end of the world is coming; you see that either God’s or a human sword cuts us; and you, meanwhile, while worshiping the true God, do not keep the people entrusted to you from worshiping stones. Tell me, what will you answer at the terrible judgment of God, without caring to subordinate your subordinates to God and turn to Him? I beg you to think about the zeal of God. Let me know which of you, how many of your subordinates will lead to Christ. But if, for some reason, you cannot do this yourself, then at least join the above-mentioned brother Felix and my son Cyriacus, and help them in the work of God, so that, as you help, you become participants in the reward that they will receive (Book 4, Scripture 25).